Bank Marketing - How you can succeed as a marketer!

I've worked with many banks, and the correct answer to the question of how to succeed in marketing banking products is tightly linked to bank location, local competition and especially psychographic and demographic profiles. What I normally do, is apply Claritas' system for customer profiling to a given bank's customer base (i.e. tag customer records in a banks MCIF system) and track attrition rates by branch within profile.

Having analyzed and executed research studies for 5 different banks, you'll find:
1) 80% to 90% of a regional bank's customers come from only 8-12 different profile clusters (out of 66 total cluster profiles that make up 100% of the population).
2) The number of products per customer will average 2.5 - 3.5
3) The rate seekers will average 1-2 products
4) People don't change banks because of rates! In a study I completed including 500 banking customers, 90% of people change banks due to a personal change (new job in a different location, or new residence) or bad customer service (bad experience). Changing banks is simply to much of a hassle for people to worry about a .5% (or less) change in checking interest.
5) The only rate seekers are for mortgages, HELOCs and CDs. Very few people will change banks for more checking account interest (really, none)
6) When people do change banks, they are more concened about convenient location first, and fees second. Not much else.
7) The only real way to add deposit customers is to have top of mind awareness when a trigger happens (4, above). The only other way is to grab them with a low rate on a product listed in 5, above, and then cross sell the other products to the new customer.

Overall, the best way to achieve customer success in banking is to maximize the number of products per customer through cross-selling, establishing strong brand awareness, and wrapping every customer engagement with stellar customer service and support - so your customers don't leave you.

I've had many banking clients since 1994 (10+) and with each one, these rules held true.

Poetry & Word Power

This was in response to a Newsletter article I read that highlighted a workshop that she attended that focused on writing poetry to help improve communications skills... My response...

Amy - I am a frequent reader of poetry and I found your article quite appropriate. I read poetry to my children – especially if we a discussing a certain subject. I even introduce them to the power of Haiku’s! As an adult the Haiku is simply amazing (originated in the 1600s in Japan as a way of helping warriors balance the mental with the physical) – Basho is the best known and here’s his best known Haiku.

Breaking the silence
Of an ancient pond,
A frog jumped into water

With these few words, look at what he conveyed! You can picture the pond, the time of year, the frog, the sound – it’s amazing!

I read this to my 7 year old (and others) and asked:
What time of year is it?
How big is the body of water?
What is the temperature outside?
What time of day is it?
What is in the water?
What does it look like around the pond (trees, birds, flies, etc.)

Continuing on down this path, think of songs we take for granted and review their beauty and simplicity – as well as their ability to convey a great mental picture with words.

Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what your are
Up above the world so high
Like a diamond in the sky.

Applied to what we do today, it’s important for us all (as business writers) to be efficient AND to continue to paint emotional pictures that are passionate and moving. The latter is often forgotten in business writing, however it’s essential to convey feeling through the use of more powerful and emotional words (adjectives & gerunds). This is the premise of the “Word Power” system you might have heard about, which teaches us that every word that we use has power and meaning unto itself.

For example, rather than writing a bill called “Breakfast Subsidy Program for Underprivileged Children”, the system would instruct you to pick a name that legislators would feel proud to vote for (or afraid to vote against) like “The SmartStart Nutrition Program for Children.” Same bill, same benefit, yet the latter makes legislators think twice before voting against it. Again, it all comes down to transitioning your writing from product facts without emotion and powerful words, to adjectives that affect a more positive and personal emotional connection in order to achieve a desired result (like voting for a bill, in this sample).

The word power system is being used in Washington and at the state level to help get programs approved. You might enjoy looking into the system (not buying it, but just understanding it) if you have not already done so. It’s really helped my business writing!

Pinewood Derby...

Over the past 2 months, my two sons and I have been working on preparing racers for the Cub Scout's Pinewood Derby. What a great tradition! In talking to other fathers and scouts, nearly all shared fond memories of working on the cars together. This got me thinking about how great these generational activities are! And conversely, how so often we often look to the next best thing rather than allowing ourselves to find comfort (and even excitement) in tradition.

Weigh-in was last night, and it was crazy, fun, and exciting to see everyone getting his car ready for the big race. Plus, nearly every person was feeding of the nostalgia and history of this event. You could see how close building the cars brought father & son. Quite touching!

All for now - time to head out!

Jon